- KOKC (AM)
Infobox Radio station
name = KOKC
callsign_meaning = OKlahoma City
city =Oklahoma City, OK
area =Oklahoma City metropolitan area
airdate = December 24, 1922 (as KFJF) October 28, 1932 (as KOMA) August 27, 2004 (as KOKC)
branding = Talk Radio 1520 KOKC
frequency = 1520 kHz
format = News/Talk
class = A (clear channel )
power = 50,000Watt s
former_callsigns = KFJF (1922-1932) KOMA (1932-2004)
owner =Renda Broadcasting
website = [http://www.1520kokc.com 1520kokc.com]
affiliations =ABC News KOKC (1520 AM) is a talk
radio station located inOklahoma City among a cluster of stations in the market owned byPennsylvania -basedRenda Broadcasting . KOKC is an affiliate ofABC News Radio .The early years
Founded by Dudley Shaw, KFJF, as it was first known, started transmitting its 15 watt signal on Christmas Eve, 1922. Originally, the principal function of KFJF was to rebroadcast the programming of larger eastern stations.
By late 1924, KFJF increased its power to 125 watts—reaching as far away as New Jersey, and claimed to have over 100,000 listeners. Three years later, KFJF boosted its signal to 5,000 watts and moved to 1480 on the AM dial.
Birth of KOMA
In 1932, the KFJF call letters were retired and the station became known as KOMA. During this time, KOMA took on its familiar frequency when the Federal Communications Commission moved all AM radio stations 40 kilohertz up the dial.Fact|date=August 2008 KOMA 1480 became KOMA 1520, and was operating at 50,000 watts.
During the 1930s and '40s, CBS provided KOMA over 90% of its programming.
KOMA was purchased in 1938 by J.T. Griffin, the founder of
KWTV . Griffin's son John and his brother-in-law were half of a partnership that was awarded FCC permission to put Channel 9 on the air. KWTV went on the airDecember 20 ,1953 , initially broadcasting from the KOMA radio tower while its own tower was under construction. From 1953 to 1956, KWTV was operated in conjunction with KOMA.That relationship was renewed in March, 2007 when KOKC ended their news and weather partnership with
KFOR-TV in favor of KWTV News 9.The Storz years
KOMA was in a period of transition—the first of many—when in May 1958, the station ended its long-time affiliation with CBS to become "an independent". Thus was born Oklahoma City's true "Rock N' Roll" music station. Still, KOMA was the third station in Oklahoma City to flip to a Top-40 format, behind KOCY and
WKY .Todd Storz , the father of theTop 40 radio format , purchased KOMA in 1958, adding it to his list of stations which includedWHB , Kansas City, WTIX, New Orleans, WDGY, Minneapolis, KXOK, St. Louis, andWQAM-AM , Miami.Even with its 50,000 watt signal, KOMA faced a serious challenge during the 1960s and '70s from cross-town competitor WKY.
Many times WKY was the ratings champ in the Oklahoma City metro area, while KOMA was much better known outside the market. Here's why: Due to nighttime "skywave" conditions on the AM band and with little adjacent channel interference, KOMA had a tremendous reach with its directional antenna array.
In many areas of the Plain States and the West, KOMA was the only Top 40 station serving some rural areas and small town markets. At night, KOMA had a listenable signal in such far away locales as Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and even Los Angeles.
KOMA's Top-40 era officially ended September 12,1980 when "KOMA Country" was born. The first song played --
John Denver 's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." KOMA would remain in the Storz family until July 1, 1984 when it was purchased by Price Communications.Changes over the airwaves
Price Communications kept KOMA's country format in place until September 1985 when it was determined that FM competition was too much to overcome. KOMA adopted the slogan "Forty Years of Favorites", and specialized in a beautiful music format.
On September 1, 1988, Chicago-based Diamond Broadcasting, Inc. purchased KOMA along with sister station,
KRXO . On September 22, KOMA returned to the "Glory Days", bringing back the hits of 1950's and 60's to a familiar spot on the dial for those who grew up listening to KOMA.The KOMA call letters made the transition to 92.5 FM on June 22, 1992 after Diamond Broadcasting entered a local marketing agreement with Wilks Schwartz Broadcasting.
Ownership changes
In May 1998, it was announced that KOMA and KRXO were to be purchased by Renda Broadcasting. New state-of-the-art digital studios in NE Oklahoma City were constructed for the arrival of the legendary station. At 3pm on
November 9 ,1998 , KOMA began broadcasting from the new location.The studios -- ironically -- once housed KOMA's rival, WKY. Danny Williams, Ronnie Kaye and Fred Hendrickson all worked in the building during the 1970s when they were jocks for WKY.
After 37 years of broadcasting in Moore, KOMA's studios became vacant. The station's three towers and transmitter remain active there.
End of an era
In 2002, the station added "
The Radio Factor " and CBS News at the top of the hour, fueling speculation about a move to a news talk format. Late that year, KOMA's parent company, Renda Broadcasting, announced it was discontinuing the simulcast withKOMA-FM .The launch date for News Talk 1520 KOMA was originally set for Monday,
February 3 ,2003 . However, the disintegration ofSpace Shuttle Columbia on re-entry prompted the change two days earlier.In an effort to distinguish the station from
KOMA-FM , 1520 KOMA changed its call letters to KOKC onAugust 27 ,2004 . The call letters had previously been used since the 1950s at KOKC 1490, a station based in Guthrie, Oklahoma.OU Sooner Sports
KOKC is the flagship sports station of the
University Of Oklahoma , covering OU football, men's and women's basketball as well as baseball. In 2007, the locally-produced "Total Access Sports Talk" debuted in the 4:00-7:00 pm slot with hosts James Hale and former OU 2-time All-American Jimbo Elrod.KOKC's sister station, KRXO is also a flagship station for OU Sooner football.
Notable alumni
*
Paul Harvey -- "The Rest of the Story"
*Curt Gowdy (1919-2006) -- was hired in 1946 by KOMA for play-by-play coverage of OU Sooner football, as well as OSU basketball games. His distinctive style during his broadcasts in Oklahoma City earned him a national audition and then an opportunity with the New York Yankees in 1949.
*Rod Roddy (1937-2003) -- Announcer,The Price is Right
*Charlie Tuna --KBIG-FM 104.3, Los Angeles, CA
*M.G. Kelly -- [http://www.mgkelly.com] Actor/Syndicated DJ
*John Ravenscroft (1939-2004) -- KOMA's "Beatle Expert" from 1964-1966; later a respected disc jockey, radio presenter, and journalist in the U.K.
*Danny Williams, Program Director of 1520 KOMA's Top-40 rival, WKY. He began his legendary career here in Oklahoma City in 1950, and would stay at WKY until his first "retirement" in 1979. He returned to the airwaves in June, 1992 on KOMA AM-FM. At the age of 81, he retired from 92.5 KOMA on August 29, 2008 after spending the last 16 years as the morning drive personality.
*Ernest Istook , a former Republican member of theUnited States House of Representatives for the 5th District of Oklahoma. Istook was a member of the Appropriations and the Homeland Security committees. He was the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 2006, running against incumbent Democrat Gov.Brad Henry . Istook lost the gubernatorial race. During the 1970s, Istook worked as a radio news reporter at KOMA.Oklahoma City sister stations
KOMA-FM 92.5 FM -Classic Hits KRXO 107.7 FM -Classic rock KMGL 104.1 FM -Adult Contemporary External links
* [http://www.1520kokc.com Talk Radio 1520 KOKC Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/1520kokc Talk Radio 1520 KOKC MySpace Page]
* [http://www.ronblackradio.com Website of Talk Radio 1520 KOKC personality, Ron Black]
*amq|KOKC
*aml|KOKC
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